Studio City living can certainly be done in a rural setting

Rustic and modern meet in a completely renovated and redesigned 1952 home that offers a panoramic view of the Santa Monica Mountains, even from the solar-heated spa pool.

This midcentury contemporary on the hillsides of Studio City, with a completely renovated and redesigned open plan interior, offers a panoramic view of the Santa Monica Mountains.

The 1952 house, purchased as an investment property by Alan Backus, co-inventor of the Showtime Rotisserie with Ron Popeil, sits off a private winding country road north of Mulholland Drive.

The area, filled with large lots and custom-built homes, is convenient to studios and the Westside yet maintains a rural feel with canyon vistas and no sidewalks.

Beyond the gates of the compound is a motor court that can accommodate 10 cars. Jacaranda, California oak, Brazilian pepper and macadamia nut trees line the property.

The exterior of the house, done in monochromatic grays, has touches of color in the lime green front door and orange kalanchoe plants that border the front.

The front door opens to a living room with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors along one wall that open to the swimming pool and bring the outdoors in.

The kitchen, which features Bentwood custom cabinetry and Walker Zanger tiles, has a six-burner Bertazzoni range and double oven with a pot filler faucet over the stove. CaesarStone tops the center island.

Behind the kitchen is a laundry room, a walk-in pantry and a maid's room with bathroom and closet. The dining room features a see-through fireplace adjacent to the family/media room.

On the other side of the living room is a powder room with a Neo-Metro 9110 Series Ebb Concept sink that is underlit and glows in the dark. Beyond the powder room is the master suite, which includes a sitting room with fireplace, a bathroom with a steam shower and spa tub, his and her walk-in closets, and a bedroom with an outdoor patio.

Opposite the master suite are a guest bedroom and guest bathroom, and a second master suite with bedroom, bathroom and a room that can be used as a home gym or office.

By the solar-heated pool is a cabana bathroom, an outdoor shower, fire pit, covered dining pavilion with built-in barbecue, refrigerator and outdoor speakers.

A guest suite, attached to a three-car garage, has its own outdoor patio.

To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send high-resolution color photos with caption and credit information on a CD and a detailed description of the house to Lauren Beale, Business, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012. Questions may be sent to homeoftheweek@latimes.com.

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On the hillsides

Location: 11524 Amanda Drive, Studio City 91604

Asking price: $4,589,000

Previously sold for: $2.55 million in 2008

Size: There are four bedrooms, five bathrooms and one half-bath in 4,878 square feet. The guest suite has one bedroom and a bathroom with a shower stall in 295 square feet.

Around the neighborhood: Through June, 99 single- family homes sold in the 91604 ZIP Code, according to MDA DataQuick, at a median price of $800,000. That was a 17.9% price drop from the first half of 2008. There were 175 homes listed for sale last week in 91604 at Realtor.com priced from $379,905 to $11,495,000.